Transgender Tasmanians hope to emerge from shadow of bigotry

many transgender Tasmanians living in the shadow of bigotry, there is now a possibility of change.

Being seen as trans means facing prejudice and discrimination in many aspects of our lives. Sometimes we even fear going out, lest we be abused and attacked.

These fears were intensified during last year’s postal survey when the No case mounted an attack on transgender people and gender diversity hoping it would stop Australia voting for marriage equality.

It didn’t, and that’s one reason why we have hope.

Australia said Yes to the principle of equality, despite millions of dollars spent on demonising transgender and gender diverse people.

Among the states, the Yes vote in Tasmania was second only to Victoria, showing just how far we have come since Tasmania criminalised both homosexuality and crossdressing, barely a generation ago.

Now it’s time for the next step. A new group of transgender and gender diverse Tasmanians, called Transforming Tasmania, has formed to campaign for equality and dignity under the law.

The prompt for our campaign is that the states have to remove their laws forcing transgender people to divorce their loved ones if they want their gender identity officially recognised.

This is a hangover from the days before Australia had marriage equality. Last year’s marriage equality legislation made it a requirement that the states remove forced divorce within 12 months.

The Tasmanian Government is already drafting its legislation. But we want this reform to go further.

Another hurdle to the law reflecting our true gender identity is the requirement that anyone who wants to change their gender on their birth certificate has to have surgery.

Not all trans people need this.

For many who do, it is too expensive or problematic, and requires years of waiting, living one gender while our legal identity says another.

We want to be able to change the gender on our birth certificates without the need for medical or psychological intervention.

Countries like New Zealand and Britain have already removed the surgery requirement, and many others, including Ireland, Canada, Argentina, Malta and Pakistan allow self-identification without any medical intervention.

There is also no surgery requirement when changing gender on Australian passports. It would be a source of pride for many Tasmanians if our state could lead the others into the 21st century on this issue.

Two other reforms are also way overdue.

The first is curbing unnecessary and deferrable surgery on intersex infants; those who are born with sex characteristics that are not typically male or female.

If this surgery does occur it must be approved by an official body that ensures it is only because it is medically necessary to save the child’s life.